William Dean Christenson

Case record

William Dean Christenson was born in 1945 and was a native of Bethesda, Maryland.

Background

Christenson logged his first felony conviction in 1969. He was charged with assault and battery in the stabbing of a teenage girl in Washington, D.C.

Two years later, Christenson pled guilty to raping a Maryland go-go dancer. He served nine years before his parole in 1980.

Offences (Montreal and Canada)

On April 16, 1981, traveling as “Richard Owen,” Christenson was picked up for rape in Montreal. He bargained down to a guilty plea on charges of indecent assault.

A year later, Christenson was “inadvertently” released by Canadian authorities. Canadian authorities released him despite a request that he be delivered to Maryland as a parole violator and suspect in other violent rapes.

On April 27, 1982, the decapitated, dismembered body of 27-year-old Sylvie Trudel was found in the Montreal apartment occupied by “Richard Owen.”

That same afternoon, the sectioned corpse of Murielle Guay, 26, was found wrapped in trash bags at Mille-Isles, 50 miles northwest of Montreal.

Police were initially reluctant to connect the crimes, noting that Trudel’s killer displayed “a certain amount of expertise,” while victim Guay was “really butchered.” Their doubts were resolved by April 29, with murder warrants issued in the name of William Christenson.

On April 29, murder warrants were issued in the name of William Christenson.

That August, Canadian authorities closed their file on the Montreal murders, citing Christenson’s present life sentence. Canadian authorities also indicated that he was already suspect in two other slayings, with the victims dismembered with a hacksaw.

Return to the United States; travel and arrests

Back in the United States, Christenson met his parents at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He tapped their bank account for a $5,000 grub stake. Both of his parents were later charged with harboring a fugitive.

With cash in hand, Christenson started drifting over the eastern half of the country. He spent time in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

He was living in Scranton, as “Stanley Holl,” when go-go dancer Michelle Angiers was stabbed 30 times in a tavern parking lot at nearby Dickson. Her body was recovered on September 13, 1982.

Nine months later, in Trenton, New Jersey, Christenson shot and wounded two black men whom he had befriended in a local saloon.

On December 4 of that year, in Philadelphia, he used the same gun to kill another black, 51-year-old Jeffrey Schrader, in a barroom altercation.

Christenson was arrested in the Schrader case and sat in jail while police searched his apartment. Police retrieved a bloody mattress and a hacksaw, matted with blood and hair from his apartment.

“No trace has been found to this day of the dancer with whom he had once shared the flat.”

Trial outcomes and sentences

Christenson was convicted of the Schrader homicide. He drew a prison term of life without parole.

By the summer of 1984, felony charges were piling up against Christenson. Trenton authorities wanted him for trial on the double shooting. Montgomery County, Maryland, sought to try him on another rape charge.

Nationwide, police named Christenson as a suspect in at least thirteen deaths with suggestions that the final count might reach thirty. Pennsylvania officers dubbed him “a real American Jack the Ripper.”

Court and public responses

Christenson responded to the attention by striving to make himself mysterious. He signed court documents with a check mark and challenged prosecutors to prove his identity.

In November 1984, Christenson spoke to Philadelphia newsmen about his “extreme mental and alcohol problems.” He voiced the fear that he would be charged by police in numerous unsolved murders.

Movements while in custody and later sentencing

On February 16, 1985, Christenson left state prison in a heavily armed convoy, complete with helicopter escort, bound for Philadelphia and his arraignment in the murder of Michelle Angiers.

Christenson was convicted of third-degree murder in that case.

On August 5, 1987, Christenson faced a new term of twenty years on completion of his existing life sentence.

Aftermath and ongoing investigation

The investigation in Christenson’s case continued, with further prosecutions anticipated by authorities in several states.

Other details

Michael Newton described the case with the following information:

• “SEX: M”
• “RACE: W”
• “TYPE: N”
• “MOTIVE: Sex./PC argument”
• “DATE(S): 1981-82”
• “MO: At least four women stabbed/dismembered; one man shot .”
• “DISPOSITION: Life + 20 years for two Pa. murders”